Lonely Little Wanderers
by SkyetheWriter
Summary: AU. Very AU. Tony and Pepper meet as children and form an unlikely friendship under difficult circumstances
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So this is my first multi-chap. It is about as AU as it gets but hopefully those of you like AU fics will enjoy it, hopefully people who don't might like it too. If people like it then please let me know so I know whether to continue.**

**WARNING: This is gonna get quite angsty, and deals with some quite emotional stuff that may be upsetting for people. If I carry on there may even be character death, but it depends  
**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the spelling and grammar mistakes, not even the picture.  
**

'_It'll go away you know,' he said, sitting down beside her on the bank and dangling his feet into the clear little stream _

'_What will?' the little redheaded girl sniffed_

'_The pain,' he said, his dark eyes holding her bright blue ones 'it won't last very much longer,'_

'_You promise?'_

'_I promise,' his young face was serious and honest_

'_How'd you know?'_

'_Because it doesn't for me,'_

'_Doctor Miles says it's different for everyone,' she was curled up in the foetal position on the bank, arms hugging her stomach 'It might be different for you and for me,'_

'_It's not though,' he reached out an arm and stroked her back gently, shushing her comfortingly as a muffled moan of pain escaped her mouth_

'_Why not?'_

'_Because you and me, Pepper, we're the same. We're peas in a pod,'_

'_I don't like peas,' she whined, letting out a little scream of pain before jumping up and vomiting into the grass. She curled up again-burying her head beneath her arms-and started crying again._

'_I know,' he whispered softly as he soothed her 'I know,'_

* * *

Virginia Potts had just turned five. She was slight and skinny, with fine boned elfin features, bright blue eyes and long red hair that never looked properly combed. She was small with a cute yet cheeky smile, but she had a fiery temper and enjoyed bossing people around. Everyone she met was completely wrapped around her little finger in a matter of minutes.

She was currently sitting at the kitchen table, prodding at her dinner apprehensively with her knife and fork

'Ginny, darling, what's the matter?' it was her mother, Angela's voice, gentle and concerned as always 'Aren't you hungry?'

The little girl nodded

'Then why don't you want to eat?'

'Feel weird,' she murmured. It had started a couple of hours ago, just a little dizziness-nothing too serious-but she didn't like the feeling and she didn't feel like eating.

'You gonna throw up?' her mother frowned at her, concerned

'No, Momma, not _that_ kinda weird,' her mother's frown deepened 'I think I wanna go to bed,'

'Bed? Honey it's only half five, it's a bit early for bed don't you think?'

'But I'm sleepy,' she looked up at her mother with wide, tired blue eyes

'Okay, baby, well you can go to bed if you want. Would you like that?' she nodded and hopped down from her chair, little feet pitter-pattering on the stone floor as she crossed the kitchen

'Want me to help you get ready for bed?' her mother called

'Ahuh,' the redhead mumbled in response

'Come on then,' Angela entered her daughter's room a few steps behind her and knelt on the floor in front of her 'Arms up,' she instructed and the little girl stuck her skinny arms high up in the air as Angela pulled off her small stripy blue t-shirt 'Where's your PJ top, Gin?'

'In draw,' she slurred, her head lolling to the side slightly as if she were about to drop off any second

'Go get it then,' her mother smiled

'M'kay,' she turned towards her dresser in search of her pyjamas-the blue one's with stars that she really liked, not the stupid pink frilly ones that her grandma had bought her for her birthday last week- but a gasp from her mother stopped her short

'Ginny! My god, Ginny what have you done to your back?'

What could she have done? Maybe she'd got stains from trying to wriggle down into that fox den earlier, or scratches from scrambling through the bushes at the end of Mrs Rosenberg's garden? But she'd been wearing a sweatshirt while she did all that-and then she'd taken it off so her mother wouldn't see the dirt 'I…I haven't done anything,' but her mother wasn't listening, she'd grabbed her daughter by the arms and was inspecting her back-where there were great big purple green bruises blossoming all over the creamy pale skin

'Have you been climbing the tree in the yard again? I told you never to do that without someone to supervise,'

'I haven't…I swear!' not _today _anyway

'Then what have you been _doing_, Gin?'

'Nothing, Mommy, honestly!' she spun to face Angela, her eyes honest and innocent 'I promise I never did anything like that,'

'Are you absolutely sure, darling?'

She nodded

Angela frowned again 'Hmm, well you and Josh are always rough-housing. I guess he must have given them to you accidentally,'

'But, Momma, I haven't played with Josh all week. He's on vacation, 'member?'

Her mother's face paled

'Ginny, are you _sure_? Are you sure you haven't done anything…played any games, bumped into something? Anything that could be responsible for those bruises?'

'No, I promise!' Angela didn't get serious with her very often, unless she was misbehaving, and the woman's quiet urgency was really unsettling the little girl

'Okay, baby, I think we need to go the ER. Can you put your shirt back on?'

'The ER?'

'Yeah, just to be safe okay?'

'Okay,' she had no idea what was going on, all she knew was that her mother looked scared, and it was scaring _her_

* * *

The doctor was friendly, but it didn't change the fact that she was confused and scared by everything that happened once they reached the hospital. They'd had to wait a while in the ER, but once they'd seen the nurse everything started going too fast for her to process properly.

The doctor had been nice to her, but she could tell he was worried. He'd started talking to her mother very fast using big words she didn't understand-each of which had made her mother's mask of calm slip a little bit more.

'Ginny? We're going to take you to do a few tests alright?'

She had no idea what was going on, but the redhead nodded and hopped out of her seat.

She didn't like the tests one bit. She screamed when they brought the needle near her and cried all the time it was in her arm. When she saw the big needle, the one they said they had to put into her bone, she ran. She was small and quick and she snuck under both the nurses' and her mother's arms before hightailing it down the corridor. It didn't take them long to find her-apparently there weren't many wild-haired redheaded five year olds running around the hospital-and had to spend ten minutes calming her down with the promise that she wouldn't feel anything.

She did

It wasn't too bad, it didn't even hurt exactly, but she could still feel _something_ and she didn't like it

'It's okay, baby, it'll all be over soon I promise,' her mother whispered

It wasn't

After that they wanted to stick an even bigger needle in her, but at least for that they put her to sleep.

She didn't wake up for a while, and when she did she was lying in a hospital bed with her mother sitting by her side. She'd hardly regained consciousness when the doctor walked back in again, and this time his face was grave

'Mrs Potts?' her mother stood and walked to him

They only talked for a minute or so. There were more big words again-one of them sounded like Luke-but she didn't recognise any of the others. She saw the doctor put a hand on her mother's shoulder before walking out again with the promise to return soon. Angela came back to sit by the side of the bed and for the first time in her life, the little girl saw her mother cry.

**Please tell me what you thought, and if you'd like me to continue**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Surprised myself by how quickly I got this written. It won't always be this quick-though I'll try my best. Anyway, thank you so much to everyone who favourited and/or is following this story. Double thank you to reviewers. I always love to know what people think.**

**WARNING: Like I said last chapter, this is an emotional story. If that's not your thing, then really, don't read this. I mean I want people to read this obviously-but I don't want it to really upset anyone. So read at your own risk.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything...actually I made up Willow Creek. And Doctor Miles. But apart from that I don't own anything  
**

A vacation. That's what her mother had called it.

'You're going on a little vacation, sweetie. Just until you get better, okay?'

'But, Momma, what's _wrong_ with me?' she'd asked about a thousand times and her mother still hadn't given her a straight answer. In fact her mother had barely looked her in the eye-as if by keeping her eyes averted she might be able to stop the nightmare from becoming a reality.

'You're not very well, but we're going to get you better. I promise,'

'Where am I going, Mommy?' she was sitting on her bed kicking her feet whilst her mother packed a small suitcase with clothes-mainly pyjamas-and various stuffed animals off the little girl's bed

'Somewhere to get better,'

'Am I going to the hospital?' she didn't want to go back to that place

'No, baby, not quite anyway,'

'Well where am I going?'

'It's a…special place. Just for sick kids,'

'Like…a children's hospital?' she'd heard of them from commercials on TV

'A little, but this one's a bit more…specialised,' Angela was looking more and more uncomfortable

'What does that mean? Spesh-lised?'

Her mother sighed, bit down on her lip and then turned to kneel by the bed in front of her daughter 'Ginny?'

'Yes, Momma?'

'I know this is scary-and I know you don't really understand what's going on-but for now could you just trust me? I promise that the doctor and I will explain everything when we get to the hospice and make sure you understand. Okay?'

The redhead screwed up her nose and frowned 'Hospice? What's that?'

'It's where you're going, Gin,'

'Will Daddy be there?'

'He's still in New York at his conference, sweetie, he has to get some things sorted with work before he can come home. I promise he'll be there soon though,'

Please can you just promise to trust me for now?'

Eventually, she nodded and hopped off the bed to make sure that Mr Wriggle the fluffy fish had been packed. She couldn't sleep without him

* * *

'Okay, Virginia, I want you to listen to me very carefully. I know this is difficult but it's important that you understand,'

They were sitting in an office at the Willow Creek Hospice for Children listening to the doctor-Doctor 'Call me Miles' Montgomery. She'd liked the look of it on the way in. It was a massive modern-looking building set in the middle of fields, surrounded by trees and hedges. There was even a stream. If she hadn't been so scared, she might even have been excited.

'Virginia?'

'Yes, Doctor Montagomry?' she blinked up at him

He chuckled 'Montgomery, but please, call me Doctor Miles. Or even just Miles. Now are you listening?'

'Yes, Doctor Miles?'

'Okay, well I expect you're very confused at the moment-and that's okay-anyone would be in your shoes,'

'Why are they wearing my shoes?' it was her mother who laughed this time, though it was a little strained

'They're not wearing your shoes. It's an expression, darling,'

'What it means is that anyone going through what you're going through would be feeling just the same,' Doctor Miles explained 'Now you remember all those tests they did at the hospital?'

She nodded, of course she remembered. Needles. She really hoped there weren't going to be any more needles

'Well during those tests the doctor took some of your blood and some of your bone marrow-that's the squidgy stuff inside your bones-'

'Doctor Montgomery,' Angela interrupted him 'Does she really need to know all this? She's only _five_,'

'That doesn't matter. We believe in being truthful with our patients here-no matter their age. Of course we'll be delicate about it, but Virginia seems like an intelligent girl, and in my experience intelligent children will be _more_ frightened if no one explains anything to them. If they're bright enough to know something's going on then they deserve to _know_ what that something is,'

'I want to know, Mommy. I don't like being confusled,' her mother patted the little girl's untameable hair and smiled fondly at her mispronunciation

'Okay, Gin,' she took her daughter's hand 'But just…go easy, okay?' she gave the doctor a firm look to which he nodded in response. Then he turned back to the child and explained-as best he could to a five year old-why her life was about to be turned upside down.

* * *

She was sitting by the stream, crying, when he found her. She wished she'd never asked, that Doctor Miles wasn't a good doctor who was honest with his patients

'_Doctor Miles?' she'd asked, her voice a little high pitched. Her eyes wide, vulnerable. _

'_Yes, Virginia?'_

'_Am I going to die?'_

_Silence_

_Her mother and the doctor shared a look, a long look, before her mother gave an almost imperceptible nod and he turned back to her. His face was sympathetic._

'_We can't know-for sure. We're going to do everything, _everything,_ that we possibly can to get you better again. But even with chemo, radiation…even with transplants…yes. There's a possibility that you might die,'_

_She'd nodded, calmer than anyone could have guessed. She didn't really understand death-she was too young to-but all but one of her grandparents had died since she was alive. Her Uncle Donny had as well-even her hamster-she knew enough. She knew that when people did this thing that grownups called 'dying' that they didn't come back. That once someone died they were gone forever__, not just like a vacation-a vacation like her mother had told her she was going on. Both her parents told her that her Grandparents, that Uncle Donny, even the hamster had gone to Heaven-that when they'd died they had gone to a better place where they'd be happier, but they couldn't come back to visit. She__ was clever for her young age, and she'd thought when they'd told her that they couldn't know. They couldn't be _sure.

_She'd looked back at the doctor, at her mother, with wide, fearful but surprisingly composed eyes_

'_Okay,'_

_Okay. She might do that thing that her Grandparents had done. Okay. She might go away and never come back. Okay. She might die. What was dying really? It was just a word. It held no meaning for a five year old girl. Not really. _

_But then she remembered Uncle Donny's funeral. How they'd put him in that small wooden box for people to look at-all white and pale. How they'd put a lid on the box like it was full of old, unwanted possessions. How they'd lowered the box into the ground and dumped pile upon pile of earth on top of him, all buried underground._

_They might have to do that to _her_. Suddenly the idea of squeezing down into fox dens made her feel sick. If she died then they'd put her in the ground, all closed up in a box like old junk. She wasn't calm anymore. She was scared. Terrified. She didn't want to _die_. She didn't want to be buried in box underground._

_The tears came fast and hard then. Her mother reached for her but she shrugged away. She was running again. Only this place was different, she made it out the front door easily, and then she ran flat out for the stream, not bothering to look over her shoulder as she went._

* * *

She'd come barreling past him like a tiny redheaded tornado, so fast that he'd only just managed to pick up on the fact that she was crying. He'd followed quickly after, well, as quickly as he could. Eventually she stopped and collapsed under a tree by the stream. He approached slowly, sitting down carefully so as not to scare her.

'You know there aren't any signs in there warning about low-flying redheads,' he joked, joking was what he was good at 'You nearly ran me over,'

'Sorry,' she mumbled, scrubbing her eyes with her fists

'You don't have to hide it, you know, I cried too,'

'What you mean?'

'When I found out. It's okay to cry, it'll help,'

'Are you sick too?' she asked, finally turning her wet blue eyes to look at him

'Terribly,' he said, deliberately melodramatic

'Do you have Lukey-mia too?' he grinned at her, but nodded

'I take it you have Doctor Miles? He does tend to be a little blunt. How old are you?'

'Five,' she sniffled

'Wow. So you're a big girl then,'

'My Daddy says that big girls don't cry,'

'Course they do, all the _best _people cry. Especially big girls,'

She finally responded to his grin with a little smile of her own 'You're nice,'

He shrugged 'I try,'

'I like you,' she said firmly, nodding her head a little as if to reinforce the statement

'Well that's good. I like you too. So what's your name then, big girl?'

'Virginia,'

'Hmm, you ever shorten that?'

'Mommy and Daddy call me Ginny,' she replied, her small brow furrowed slightly

'Well that's a bit boring,' his brow was furrowed too 'Someone like you should have a more exciting name than, Ginny,'

'I like my name…I think,' she was even more confused now. No one had ever told her there was anything wrong with her name before

'You know you've got a lot of freckles. It's cute…like someone took a pepper grinder and just went crazy over your face…hey! That's it,' he snapped his fingers 'that's what you should be called-Pepper!' the boy was almost jumping up and down he was so excited.

'Pepper? That's not a name,'

'Yes it is! It's _your_ name,' he was grinning from ear to ear

Pepper. She kind of liked it. It made her feel special-there where a lot of Virginia's around, she knew two-but she'd never met anyone called Pepper. The boy would probably be the only one that called her by it anyway. She smiled and nodded

'Okay,'

'Yes! I knew you'd like it. What's your last name?'

'Potts,'

'Well then…nice to meet you Pepper Potts. My name's Tony, Tony Stark,'

**Let me know what you thought. Reviews make me happy, like really really happy. They also make me write faster if you want more.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Kay sorry this took longer than I meant it to, but I do have to earn a living. This is kinda the last of the set-up chapters, I don't really like it to be honest. I wrote it quickly cos I wanted to update and it's not my best, so sorry in advance for that. Anyway, thank you so so much to everyone who's shown an interest in this story-favouriters, followers and especially reviewers, it means a lot. If people continue to like this then I might make it quite long because I have an idea where I wanna take it and I want to do it justice, but it really depends on what people think, so feedback would be good :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own stuff...except the stuff that I made up...I do own that  
**

Tony Stark was almost nine years old, with deep, soulful brown eyes and dark almost black hair that constantly flopped into his eyes. At least, it had done, but his mother had insisted he cut it shorter when he got ill. She'd said it would make things easier on him, though he didn't really see how; his hair was still going to fall out. That didn't really bother him though-who needed hair if they were going to die anyway? And he was-going to die that was-he was very sure of it.

He had dreams about his funeral, about his parents crying, his school friends crying, his _teachers_ crying. The press documenting his father's decent into depression at the death of his beloved son and heir to the company-Uncle Obi having to try his hardest to keep it going. Of course those were just fantasies, in reality he didn't really think anyone would care that much. Maybe his mother would cry, but his father would be serious and stoic as always, and as for school friends-he didn't really have a great deal. He didn't really have _any_. He was rich, which didn't help, but he was also _clever_-cleverer than any of them, cleverer than half his teachers-so they didn't like him either.

No, Tony Stark was quite convinced that if he died-_when_ he died-no one would really miss him all that much. So he was resolved to simply enjoy himself before his impending demise as much as he possibly could.

Then a little redheaded whirlwind blew past him in a corridor, and suddenly he wanted to believe in miracle cures and overcoming deadly illnesses. Not for himself, but for a scared little girl with unruly red hair and a face-full of freckles. A girl he called Pepper.

* * *

'My name's Tony, Tony Stark,'

'That's a funny name,' she screwed her nose up in response

'Gee, thanks,'

'I don't think I know anyone called Tony,' she thought she might have heard the name before once or twice, but she still thought it was strange

'Well I don't know anyone called Pepper,' he smiled at her, his eyes glinting cheekily

'But I'm _not_ called Pepper,' she replied indignantly. He was a very strange little boy, nothing like the boys in her class at school-or Josh from down the street-still; she couldn't help but like him

'You are now-you agreed to it-remember?'

'Maybe,'

'GINNY? GIN? GINNY!' her mother's voice came from far behind them 'GIN? WHERE ARE YOU?'

The little girl bit down on her lip and turned guilty eyes to Tony

'Sounds like you're wanted,' he looked a little sad, but she didn't quite understand why

'Ginny?' her mother ran up to where they were sitting by the stream 'Ginny? Oh, thank god,' she swept the little girl up in her arms and hugged her tightly. A little too tightly, she thought, it kind of hurt 'Oh god, Gin, you scared me' she held the girl out at an arm's length 'Why did you do that?' her voice had risen in volume 'You know you shouldn't run away from me!'

She looked down guiltily

'Sorry, Momma,' she mumbled

'I was so worried, so was Doctor Miles-he didn't mean to upset you, darling,' as if being told you might die wouldn't be upsetting 'he just wanted to be honest with you,'

'Honest about what?' Tony chirped up from beside them, a slight hint of annoyance in his voice. Angela whipped around to look at him, only just noticing his presence beside them

'Oh hello, sweetie, where did you come from-are you staying here too?' her face was sympathetic

'Yeah,' he mumbled 'Honest about what?'

No answer

'Honest about what-Pepper?' he turned his attention to the little girl

'That I might die,' she replied quietly, she wasn't sure why her mother was ignoring Tony, it wasn't exactly a secret

'You…they told you that?' he looked angry

She nodded, looking up at him with wide blue eyes 'Aren't you? I thought you said you were really sick,'

'I…I…I don't know,' he frowned and looked away

'Where are your parents?' her mother asked pointedly

He shrugged

'Don't you think you'd better go inside and find them, I'm sure they're looking for you,'

'Doubt it,' he grumbled in response

'Don't be silly, they're probably very worried, why don't you run on back and find them?'

'But, Momma, Tony's talking to me,'

'Well I'm sure he can talk to you later, Gin,' there was steel in her voice, it wasn't a tone to be argued with. She'd never heard her mother talk like that before 'We're going back inside now, okay?'

'Okay, Mommy,' she didn't understand why she was being so mean, Tony was only being friendly. Angela picked the little girl off the grass and set her on her feet

'Say goodbye to your friend, dear,'

'Bye-bye Tony,' she mumbled

'Don't worry, Pepper, I'll see you around,' he replied, turning a sulky face to her mother

'What did he call you?' she asked as she led the redhead back towards the building

'Nothing, Momma,'

'Look, Gin, I know you're upset right now...and scared too, which is why I think we should focus on you right now,'

'What?'

'I want you to focus on getting healthy again, sweetie, not on making friends,'

'But I don't need to worry about making friends, Momma; Tony _is_ my friend,' she said it with complete confidence; though she wasn't actually sure it was true. She did like him though, he was funny and nice, nicer than most of the people she knew at school, and he'd given her a nickname-so he must like her too.

'Hmm,' her mother frowned and knelt down to look her daughter in the eye 'you know I'm not so sure that you should be spending time with him, sweetheart,'

'What?' she screwed up her nose in confusion 'Why?'

'Well, I'm not sure his…attitude, will be particularly beneficial in getting well again,'

'What's ben-fishal mean?'

'It means helpful, hun. Anyway, he probably doesn't want to spend time with you-you're much younger than him-I expect he prefers playing with kids his own age,'

'But, Momma, he came and talked to me,'

'He was just trying to be nice, sweetie, but you're still a baby-you know you can't hang out with the older kids,'

'I wasn't hanging out with the older kids; I was only talking to Tony,' she didn't understand why her mother was doing this-Tony was the only person that had been able to make her smile since they'd gotten to the ER the day before

'Don't get smart, baby,'

'Momma, I'm not-'

'Ginny, I don't want you spending time with him, at least not until you've settled in, okay?'

The little girl's forehead creased

'Okay? Virginia?' Angela was staring her daughter down, her voice firm

'Yes, Momma,'

'Good,' she stood up and held out her hand for the redhead to take 'Now let's go find Doctor Miles and get you to your room,'

**I know it wasn't the best, but could you let me know what you though anyway?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Kay first off-apologies-I really meant to get this written and up sooner, I did. I'm hoping to get to a place where I update at least once a week, but obviously life does get in the way. Secondly, such huge thank yous to everyone who's shown an interest in this story -favourites, follows and especially reviewers. They all mean so much to me and inspire me to keep going. As to the issue of the ending of this story, I know people are curious-and some people have asked me about it-but honestly at this stage I don't know how I'm going to end it. I'm really just gonna go with what feels right, so I'm not promising happy, and I take no responsibility in the event of any heartbreak this story might cause if I choose to take it in that direction.**

**Okay sorry, long note. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and that it was worth the wait.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the fun stuff  
**

She didn't want to go downstairs, so she fought when they tried to make her

'I don't wanna go, Momma,' the redhead whined as she tried to pull her hand from her mother's 'I don't want them to stick things in me,' she couldn't shake the images of those horrible big needles from the hospital

Angela knelt down to look her daughter in the eye 'I know, baby, I know it's scary-but this is the only way you can get better. You want to get better don't you?'

She stopped struggling and bit down on her lip 'I don't like needles,' she murmured almost inaudibly

'Neither did I,' a voice chirped up from the doorway 'but you get used to it eventually…and you could always get one of those line thingy's,' at the noise, both of them whipped around to see Tony standing there in a navy blue dressing gown, hands in his pockets and short hair all messed up.

'Tony!' the little girl beamed and made to go over to him, but then she remembered what her mother had said to her the day before and stopped in her tracks. Angela stood up and frowned at the little boy

'Oh hello, dear, how nice to see you,' she didn't sound like she meant it

'Hello,' Tony didn't sound too happy to see her either 'Are you going down?'

'Oh…well yes fairly soon,' the little girl didn't understand her mother's tone. She still didn't see what was wrong with Tony.

'Yes but I don't wanna go because I'm scared,' she turned her big blue eyes on him

'Hey don't worry about it, it's not as bad as you think it'll be,' he smiled at her

'Will you be there too?' it might not be so bad if he was

Angela took her daughter's hand firmly in her own 'Don't be silly, baby, of course Tony won't be there,'

'Yes I will,' he replied, his smile turning to a smug grin 'I've got to go down now too,'

'Really?' the girl brightened visibly and looked happily up to her mother 'See, Momma, Tony _is_ going to be there,'

'Yes well,' her mother turned a strained smile to her daughter 'He probably won't be near us,'

The smile disappeared again 'Why not?'

'Well…erm…'

'Why won't he? That's not fair!' the girl's small face was turning red-not too dissimilar to the colour of her hair 'I want Tony to be there or I'm not going! You can't make me!'

Angela sighed and squeezed the bridge of her nose between her fingers 'Okay, sweetheart, I'll talk to the nurses about it okay?'

She screwed up her nose in consideration then she nodded, disentangled herself from her mother's hold and walked straight over to the boy, taking his hand in hers 'Come on,' she tugged at him as they both headed for the elevator 'You get to come with me,'

Angela looked after her child in wondered bemusement, and then quickly hurried after them before the elevator doors could close.

* * *

'NO. NO! I DON'T WANT IT I DON'T WANT IT TAKE IT AWAY! MOMMA I DON'T WANT IT,' the little girl was squirming in her mother's hold, trying desperately to escape the IV that a nurse was trying to put into her hand

'Ssh, baby, it's okay. It's okay. Don't worry, ssh, it won't be that bad,'

'She's right you know, darling, just a sharp scratch then it's all over. You'll hardly feel it,' the nurse interjected, a friendly smile plastered on her face as she tried to hold the redhead's hand still

'NO!' she screamed 'NOT NEEDLES! NO, MOMMA, PLEASE NO NEEDLES!'

'Baby, they're not going to hurt you, I promise,' her attempt at soothing the girl was failing miserably, and she was still wriggling around in her arms 'You just need to stay still, it won't be that bad I promise you,'

'I HATE NEEDLES, MOMMY. PLEASE I DON'T WANT THEM I DON'T WANT TO!' she was crying now, and her screams were bordering on incoherent

Angela rubbed circles on her back 'Ssh, sweetie, I know. I know you don't like them-but this one's only little, okay? It's not like the big ones they used at the hospital, you'll hardly feel it. Ssh, baby, ssh, it's okay,'

'Mommy, I don't want it, please don't make me, please,' she'd stopped squirming and was just crying into her mother's shoulder now 'No needles, Momma, please,' she sniffled

'You know if she really doesn't like needles then we may want to look into getting her a PICC line or a port,' the nurse said, her face sympathetic 'It's still a needle but after it's been placed it'll just stay there-she won't have to have a new IV placed every time,'

'You hear that, hun?' Angela looked lowered her head to speak gently in the girl's ear 'How about that? Just one needle and then no more ever,'

There was a sniffle and a muffled sob, but no reply

'Ginny? Gin? How about that-can you do that for me? Just one tiny needle,'

She shook her head 'Don't want needles,'

'Hey, Ginny?' the nurse bent down to try and catch the redhead's eye 'How would you feel if we put you to sleep for a little while to put the needle in-and then we just left it there and you wouldn't have to have anymore?'

'Put me to sleep?' she lifted her head ever so slightly

'Yeah, just for a little while,'

'But I'd have a needle in me?' she was frowning, and there were still tears streaking down her face

'Yes…but it would only be a tiny one. You'd hardly feel it, I promise,'

'Does Tony have it like that?' she sniffed. The nurse looked to Angela for explanation

'Tony?'

'Me,' his voice was more subdued than normal 'Can I open the curtain now the screaming's stopped?' but it certainly hadn't lost the humour

'Yes, Tony, you can,' Angela replied sounding a little resigned. The white patterned curtain next to them was pulled back, revealing Tony just sitting back down onto a bed, an IV in his arm

'Oh…_Tony_,' the nurse smiled 'I didn't know you guys knew each other,'

'We sure do,' he smiled as he shuffled into a more comfortable sitting position on the bed

'Yes Tony made quite an impression on Ginny yesterday, didn't he Gin?' she bent her head down to talk into the girl's ear again

'That's right,' he replied before she could 'Pepper nearly ran me down in the hallway,'

'Pepper?' Angela and the nurse asked at the same time

'Yeah,'

'Who's Pepper?'

'I am,' the little girl raised her head just slightly off her mother's shoulder, wiping a hand over her eyes

'Darling your name's Virginia, not Pepper, a pepper is a vegetable,'

'No, it's not that kind of pepper,' Tony added, sounding a little irritated 'It's pepper as in salt and pepper-because she's…fiery,'

'What?' Angela looked at Tony, her face a mask of annoyed confusion

'Tony calls me Pepper, Mommy,'

'But that's not your name, Gin, he shouldn't call you that-you shouldn't call her that, Tony,'

'But I like it, Momma,' she was sitting right up now, and the tears had stopped flowing 'makes me feel speshal,'

'Aw, baby, you're already special,' she tucked a piece of unruly ginger hair behind the girl's ear 'You don't need a silly name,'

'It's not silly,' she looked up at her mother 'You don't have to call me it,'

'She can't call you it,' Tony added 'It's _my_ name for you,'

The nurse smiled at him and shook her head a little, Angela sighed 'Okay, fine…call her a silly name if it makes you both feel better,'

She giggled and then buried her head back in her mother's shoulder

'So, have we made a decision?' the nurse asked Angela quietly

The woman looked from her daughter to Tony to the nurse and back again 'I think that line thing sounds best-would that mean less pain for her?'

'A PICC line? In the long run it certainly means she won't be being messed around as much-having needle upon needle stuck in her. I'll speak to Doctor Miles about it for you, but I expect he'll be for it if you guys are,'

'Well I can sort that out, but she's still going to have to have her session today by normal IV because she's been eating normal food so we can't sedate her for the procedure,'

'Does that mean needles, Mommy?' her voice had raised an octave and she was sounding dangerously close to hysterics again

'I'm sorry, Gin. I promise you it won't be that bad,'

'You can't know that!' she'd started crying again

'I can though,' Tony piped up 'Look,' he held out his arm-needles, tubes and all

'Does it hurt?' she asked quietly

'Yes,'

Angela's eyes widened and she shook her head at him. He ignored her.

'Yes it hurts. But I promise that the sooner you get it over with then the sooner it'll not hurt, and the sooner you'll be better so it will never have to hurt again,'

She screwed up her nose and hummed to herself, then turned to her mother and wiped her eyes

'Okay,' she murmured 'but…I don't want to,'

The nurse laughed gently 'I promise to make it as quick as possible okay,'

She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut

'Momma?' her voice was small and scared

'I'm here, baby, it's okay,'

'Tony?'

'Don't worry, Pepper, it's okay. I'll make sure it's okay,'

**I can't lie and say that reviews are gonna make me write faster, because I don't know what life's gonna throw at me that will get in the way of writing. However they will make me very very happy and could help to make the next chapter better. So pretty please?**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Let's not get started on how awful I feel shall we? Needless to say I'll try my hardest to make up for keeping people waiting so long. I was away for a while which is why I didn't update-I had no internet. Anyway I've got the next few chapters written so even if life gets hectic then the updates should be sooner. Hope it was worth waiting for guys! As always thanks to everyone who followed, favourited and/or reviewed-every sign that someone's enjoying my writing makes me slightly pathetically happy.**

**Disclaimer: I own little them, I do I do…I mean I don't really but a girl can dream, right?**

'It'll go away you know,' came Tony's voice as he sat down beside her

The redhead sniffed and looked up at him with sad blue eyes 'What will?'

'The pain,' he smiled sadly, his dark eyes kind

The little girl considered this for a while, her eyes fixed on a blade of grass before flitting back to the boy 'You promise?'

'I promise,'

'How'd you know?' her small brow creased

'Because it does for me,' he shrugged

'Doctor Miles says it's different for everyone,' she sniffed, curling tighter in on herself 'It might be different for you and me,'

'It's not though,' she could feel his hand rubbing circles on her back as she let out a little moan of pain

'Why not?' she murmured, barely audible

'Because you and me Pepper, we're the same. We're peas in a pod,'

'I don't like peas,' she let out another little scream before scrabbling up and vomiting into the grass and then curling up again and beginning to cry

'I know,' his hand was back on her back, soothing her 'I know,'

'Then why'd you say that?' she asked through her tears

'It's an expression,'

'What's a spreshion?' she screwed her nose up at him

'An expression-they're things that grown-ups use,' he explained quietly

'But you're not a grown-up,' she huffed and then moaned again, her arms tightening around her stomach

'I might as well be,' Tony replied, smiling cheekily 'I'm cleverer than most of them,'

'Why?' she wasn't convinced

'Just am,' he shrugged

'Ginny?' her mother's voice came from behind them 'Baby, it's okay,' she knelt down in the grass beside the little girl, glaring at Tony until he removed his hand from her back

'I don't like it, Momma,' she sniffed as Angela pulled her into her lap 'Feel sick,'

'I know, sweetheart, but it won't last much longer-and you can't keep running away every time you get upset 'I only knew where you were because Tony told me-' she looked up to meet the boys eye 'How _did_ you know by the way?'

He shrugged 'Just did,'

She pursed her lips and then turned back to the girl 'Why did you come here, Gin?'

The redhead looked up-her face tearstained 'Like it here. S'pretty, and it's where I met Tony,'

The little girl didn't see the glare the boy received. He just grinned.

* * *

'How long will I be asleep, Momma?' she asked, biting down nervously on her lip

'Not too long, baby, I promise,' she smiled as she stroked the girl's head

'Will Daddy be here when I wake up?'

'Hopefully-he's on the plane now,' the redhead grinned and folded her arms across her chest determinedly

'Okay,'

Her mother breathed a sigh of relief that there was no sign of waterworks 'Okay,' she smiled

'Will Tony be there too?'

The smile dropped off her mother's face and the redhead frowned. She didn't understand why her mother reacted so weirdly at every mention of Tony

'I'm sure he'll be around after you've woken up again,' she said through her teeth

'Can't he come in with me?' her eyes widened in pleading

'No, baby, not this time,'

The little girl's lip began to quiver

'I promise he can come and see you after though-okay?'

Her brow remained creased but she nodded 'Okay,'

* * *

She didn't like it. At all. She'd screamed when she'd woken up and seen it. Only when Tony had told her that it was top of the line and everyone else would be really jealous did the redhead begin to calm down again.

Her mother watched on in slightly irritated bemusement as the little boy achieved a feat she had failed at.

'See, Pepper-and now you don't have to have a new one every time, they'll just attach it to that,'

'No more needles?'

'No more needles,' he reassured

'What's all this about needles?' came a voice from the doorway. The little girl looked up and beamed

'Daddy!' she cried as the man stepped into the room and headed over to her, giving a quick kiss to his wife as he did

'Hello, Gin,' he smiled, kneeling by her bedside 'Now what've you gone and done to yourself this time?'

'I didn't do it 'liberately, Daddy, I swear,' her eyes widened in innocence

'I know, baby girl,' he laughed 'I was just teasing,'

'Hmph,' she screwed her nose up 'Tony does that too,'

Her father turned to the boy sitting cross legged at the foot of the bed 'I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you're Tony?' he asked

Tony nodded

'Matthew Potts,' he held out his hand for the boy to shake, smiling 'I hear from my wife that you've made quite the impression on my daughter,'

Angela made a tiny little strangled noise at the gesture

Tony grinned, shaking the man's hand 'Tony Stark, sir,' he replied

'Tony…Tony _Stark_?' Matthew's eyes went wide

The boy nodded

'But you're not…Howard Stark's boy?' he was still shaking the boy's hand absently

'Yup,' Tony's mood seemed to darken a little at the mention of his father

'Good God, I had no idea that you were ill-there's been no mention of it anywhere,' he finally realised he still had Tony's hand and let it go quickly

Tony shrugged 'My father likes to keep as much as possible out of the papers,'

'Evidently,' the man frowned 'Your parents here now?' he asked and Tony scoffed

'As if,'

All three Potts looked at him questioningly-the little girl hadn't really heard much about Tony's parents

'I…' Tony started falteringly 'They don't exactly…visit often,' he looked down at his hands

'Not even your mother?' Angela asked, and the redhead thought she sounded much nicer than she had when talking to the boy before

'Dad's busy working, Mom's busy dealing with the press to keep them away from here,' he shrugged 'I guess they're trying to protect me,'

'Is there no way they could at least schedule a visit?' Matthew sounded a little disgusted but Tony just shook his head

'Last I heard my father was in Europe on business and my Mom was laying down the groundwork to make it look like I'm going off to boarding school,'

'But what…what do you do without your parents around?' her mother looked rather rattled

'I entertain myself. Plus the nurses are all really nice and they bring me anything I need…books and schematics and stuff,'

'Schematics?' her father raised an eyebrow

'Yeah,' Tony grinned 'I'm working on completely redesigning the engine for my Dad's Hot Rod at the moment-make it more fuel efficient,'

Her parents stared at him and the redhead just screwed up her nose. She really had no clue what they were talking about now.

'You're…redesigning an engine?' her father asked, wide-eyed

'Yep, it's not perfect yet but I'm getting there,'

'But you're, what, ten…eleven?'

'Eight. Nearly nine-my Mom said that my short hair makes me look older,'

'You're _eight_?'

'Nearly nine, it's my birthday next week,'

'And you're redesigning engines?' Angela looked as if she might just faint

'It's pretty simple really,' Tony shrugged 'I rebuilt my first engine when I was six and after that it's all fairly easy-once you've got the mechanics of it down in your head,'

Matthew let out a low whistle 'Like father like son, I guess,'

Tony's eyes darkened again 'I'm not like my father,' he mumbled 'I'm gonna do good stuff-save the world-I don't want to make weapons like he does,'

'Good for you, son,' her father smiled, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder and Tony's eyes brightened considerably at the gesture

'What day's your birthday, Tony?' the little girl asked, a little bored of not understanding what everyone was talking about

'Tuesday,' he replied

'You don't seem very excited about it,' she screwed her nose up at him 'I love my birthday!'

'Me too, usually, but it's not like I'll get to do anything fun this year-I don't even know if my parents will be home,' he shrugged

'But…it's your _birthday_,' the little girl insisted 'You have to enjoy your birthday!'

'The kid's got a point,' Matthew said smiling a little conspiratorially 'We can't have you ignoring your birthday-we'll have to see if we can't arrange something,' he stood up and headed to stand by his wife at the door 'and in the meantime Tony-if you have any trouble or concerns-you just come talk to me or Angela. One of us is bound to be around and we won't mind helping you out, will we Ange?' he turned to smile at her mother and-to the little girl's immense surprise-the woman didn't protest.

**Daddy Potts!-thought it was a about time he turned up. Anyhoo please let me know what you think, any reaction is always appreciated though if you have concrit-I always want to improve so…you know…feel free to give us a hand with that ;) **


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Next chap, it's mainly mini Pepperony fluff this chap. So enjoy! As always, huge thanks to everyone still showing interest in this story-means a lot :)**

**Disclaimer: I'm stealing them in miniature. Deal with it.  
**

Tony's parents did turn up for his birthday-one of them anyway. Maria Stark was tall and beautiful-her eyes dark and soulful like her son's-she also seemed to be permanently distracted. It was clear to the small redhead that Tony's mother loved him-it was clear in the way she held him a little too tight when she hugged him and the way her eyes got a little wet when she stroked her son's shortly-cropped hair-but as much as she might love him, she still seemed to spend the majority of her visit flicking through paperwork. Matthew and Angela had conspired with the nurses to throw Tony a small party-cake and all-and Maria had whisked in just as Tony was about to blow out the candles.

'Mom?' he'd asked as he spotted her hovering in the doorway, balancing several files of papers with a small, neatly wrapped present

'Tony, darling,' she'd smiled crossing the room and depositing it in his lap before watching with a sad expression in her eyes as he blew all nine candles out with one big puff 'It's so good to see you,' she'd pulled him into a hug before he'd even had a chance to introduce the Potts family-and just as he was going to she'd told him to open his present

The little girl had peered over his arm as Tony pulled the mathematics textbook from the brightly coloured paper, screwing her nose up when she saw what it was

'Your father chose it,' Maria beamed at him 'said he thought it was time you started looking at some high school math-said you'd be at MIT before you're sixteen,' the woman's eyes darkened a little at this and the redhead thought she saw her wipe away a tiny tear

'Thanks, Mom,' Tony smiled at her, though his was also a little sad

'Open mine, Tony, open mine!' she jumped up and down by his chair, desperate to make him look happy again

'Which one is it?' he asked and she picked up a tiny package off the small pile of presents, biting her lip nervously as she handed it to him

Tony took the present and began to unwrap it carefully and once the wrapping paper was off he stared at it for a long moment for turning, beaming, to the little girl

'Doctor Miles said we could grow them in the garden,' she told him as he picked up the seed packets 'Daddy said that the pepper might not grow 'cos it's not hot enough here-but that one should,' she pointed to the packet of pea seeds he was turning over in his hand

'Peas,' he grinned

'Cos we're peas in a pod you said. Even though I don't like peas,' she was still biting her lip, but smiling through it, her blue eyes wide in excitement

'And pepper because it's you, right?'

She nodded

'D'you like it?' she asked, her eye widening further still

'I love it,' Tony's grin widened 'wanna go plant them?' he asked, excitement lighting up his eyes. She nodded again and they hopped up and ran off to the garden-the rest of the presents and the cake lying forgotten on the table

Matthew, Angela and Maria followed close behind and the little girl saw them walk up and stand just to the side of them as she and Tony began to dig through the damp soil with their bare hands. No one seemed to have the heart to stop them.

'Maria Stark,' she saw Tony's mother introduce herself 'I take it you're her parents,'

'Guilty,' Matthew smiled and shook the woman's hand

'It's lovely to meet you,' Angela added, also shaking the woman's hand, though the redhead thought she sounded a little like she'd sounded when she first met Tony. Ever since her father's arrival and the long talk about Tony's parents, her mother had seemed to be being increasingly nice to the boy-she let him come and sit in her room to chat, let them go out and play by the stream together, hardly even shouted when they'd disappeared off playing hide and seek. She was pleased her mother didn't seem to be always cross with him anymore, but she didn't really understand what had made her start acting so differently.

'I hate to seem rude,' Maria carried on 'but who exactly _is_ your daughter-I haven't seen her around before and they seem rather good friends,' she nodded towards the children, who were getting increasingly dirtier by the minute

'Virginia,' her mother said 'Or Ginny, she's only been here a week or so,'

'Oh I'm so sorry,' Maria said quickly, the redhead thought she sounded like she meant it

'It's alright,' her mother replied 'I mean obviously it's not _alright_, but we're coping-aren't we, hun?' she turned to Matthew

'Yeah we're coping-and Ginny seems to be coping so far which is all that matters really. I have to say we have your son largely to thank for that,' he added

'Tony?' she asked, sounding shocked

'Oh yes he's been wonderful,' her mother answered and the redhead wondered absently if she'd been drinking the bubbly stuff that made her happy-she was saying _nice_ things about Tony

'Really?' Maria sounded as surprised as she felt

'Absolutely-he's the only one who can get her to do anything. Calmed her down before her first chemo session, stayed with her and comforted her through all the after effects-even managed to get her to stop screaming when she saw her PICC line. He's been a great help-really,'

'_Tony_?' Maria asked again

'Is that strange for him?' Matthew asked and she thought he sounded a little angry

'Well no it's just…well he's always been helpful when asked but he's not…I mean he doesn't…he's not exactly the most sociable child,' she replied 'He normally prefers to hide himself away with books of equations,'

'Well he's been perfectly social with us,' her father shrugged

'Right…well. That's good,' Maria shook her head slightly 'Her name's Ginny?' she asked suddenly

'Yes,' Angela replied, a little shortly

'Then what's the thing with the pepper seeds? I thought he said something about her being pepper?'

'Oh,' her mother reverted to her old 'Tony voice' she still hadn't warmed to the nickname 'Well it's nothing really…your son just invented a silly name for her-'

'It's not silly,' Tony interjected, looking up from the seeds he'd been pushing into the soil 'It's a good name-she likes it, don't you?'

The little girl looked up and nodded, grinning through the thin layer of soil across her face

'You call her 'pepper'?' his mother asked, bemused

'Yep. She's feisty-and her freckles make it look like someone took a pepper grinder to her face-so I called her Pepper,'

'Tony,' Maria chided gently 'You can't go around making up names for things-I'm sure Mr and Mrs-' she turned to them looking guilty

'Potts,' Tony supplied quickly

'I'm sure Mr and Mrs Potts don't appreciate it,'

'I dunno,' Matthew answered 'I think it kinda works,' Angela glared at him 'Only when Tony says it though,' he clarified quickly

'What's 'pree-she-ate mean?' the redhead asked, pushing a piece of hair out of her eyes and smearing soil across her cheek in the process

'It means to be grateful for something,' Tony answered, taking one of her grubby hands and pouring more pepper corns into it before poking more holes in the ground for them to plant them in.

'See,' Matthew added as the adults watched the children work 'he's great with her,'

'Yeah,' Maria sighed, a little bewildered 'he really is,'

* * *

Maria stayed overnight, but she was gone by the time the little girl was awake the following morning, and Tony was in such a foul mood after her departure that she didn't see him all day. On Thursday she had to go down for another treatment, and the memory of how sick the first round had made her had the redhead crying into her mother's shoulder once again, clinging on as if her life depended on it.

'It hurts, Momma, it hurts. I don't wanna be sick why can't I just be better?'

'Because you need it to _make_ you better, sweetie. The sooner you go the sooner it's over and then the sooner you'll be better again,' she ran her fingers soothingly through her daughters hair, rubbing a hand reassuringly up and down the girl's back

'Unless I die,' she mumbled and she felt her mother stiffen

'Don't say that, baby, we're gonna get you better-but to do that you've gotta go have your chemo,'

She looked up at her mother and saw the sadness in her face, there were bags under her eyes and she looked incredibly tired. She didn't want her mommy to look like that-she wanted her to look happy and fun again. She tried to stop crying, scrubbing at her eyes with her fists.

'Okay, Momma. Tony'll be there though, right?' she asked, she didn't want to go unless Tony was there too

'Yes, darling,' she sighed wearily 'of course Tony'll be there,'

**Hope you liked it-lemme know what you thought!**

******Also I made myself a tumblr to keep people updated on my fics, and for if people want to talk to me/submit prompts or anything. So if you're on tumblr feel free to come follow me-or just keep an eye on the blog for updates. I'm skyethewriter over there as well :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry for keeping you all waiting again, life keeps getting in the way at the moment. But hopefully once we get over the hurdle that is manic Christmas preparations I should be able to get a lot of writing done so my updates can me more regular. As always, massive than yous to everyone reading, especially those who favorite, follow and review. I really appreciate it.**

**Disclaimer: As I've said before, I'm stealing them in miniature - Marvel's just gonna have to deal with that.  
**

At least for the second session she didn't have to have a needle stuck in her. The little girl found that the line-thingy in her arms – the one she'd hated so much when she first saw it – was actually a good thing. The nurse just put the needle into the tube on her arm and she didn't feel anything, and for the first fifteen minutes or so she'd actually felt quite happy.

Then she'd started feeling sick again, and promptly started throwing up. Tony came down when she was half-way through and, instead of heading to his bed, walked straight up to the redhead and reached out to hold her fiery hair back.

'Where's your, Mom, Pepper?' he asked, his other hand rubbing her back gently

'Bathroom,' she'd mumbled, sniffing, before vomiting again

'Oh, okay,'

'Tony?' Angela's voice was strained as she returned to her daughter's side - but she didn't seem angry at the boy at least 'Thanks, Tony, I've got her now,' she gave him a weary smile as she took over from the boy, her hands stroking over her daughter's head.

'No problem, Mrs. Potts,' the little girl had noticed that Tony had begun to be a lot politer to her mother, just like Angela had started being warmer towards him - even more so since the visit from his own mother.

'Tony? Come on, sweetheart, you were supposed to be down ten minutes ago,' a nurse, Paula, frowned at him, but there was no real anger in her expression. The boy walked to the bed next to hers and sat down obediently, watching the nurse slide the needle into his arm with only a tiny flinch.

The little girl seemed to have stopped throwing up for the time being, so she turned round to face him properly.

'How'd you do that, Tony?' she asked, small forehead furrowing

'Do what?' he asked

'Let them put the needles in you - doesn't it hurt? It hurts me,'

'Yeah it hurts…but I guess I'm just used to it,' he shrugged, and then winced as something apparently did begin to hurt.

'I hate them,' she grumbled screwing her nose up

'I know you do,' he smiled sadly 'why _do_ you hate them so much?' he asked, scratching absently at the arm with the IV in. Nurse Paula walked by and gently slapped his hand away, shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

'They hurt,' the redhead replied indignantly 'and when I was at the big hospital they put these really huge ones in me - they said I wouldn't feel it but I did. That one didn't hurt as much, but it felt weird and I didn't like it, and even though they put me to sleep for the last one I still saw it. It was massive. They're like spiders - the big ones are even scarierer, and they're sharp too like spiders teeth…I got bitten by a spider once when I was a baby. I don't really remember it because I was really little but I know it hurt…and Mommy and Daddy had to take me to the hospital then too,' she spoke so fast her words began to get tumbled together, and as she finished the sentence her face turned slightly green and she turned back to the basin and began to throw up again with a little moan of pain

'Don't like needles,' she sniffled once that bout of nausea had passed 'Don't like spiders either,'

* * *

Doctor Miles told her that she needed to start having two or maybe even three sessions a week now that she was settled, but she didn't cry until she'd got out to the stream. Since the whole hospice was enclosed and private - and the stream was still visible from the main building - her mother had begun to let her go out there alone. Though she was never really alone out there because whenever she ran to sit beneath her tree, Tony was never far behind. She thought that maybe that was why her mother allowed her out.

'What's up this time, Pepper Pot?' he asked, crossing his legs beneath him as he sat down and started pulling grass.

'Potts,' she sniffled 'My name's Potts,'

'I know that, Pepper, I was just being clever,' he sighed dramatically, grinning.

'You're too clever,'

'_Too_ clever?' he asked, his own brow furrowing 'How can I be _too_ clever?'

'Daddy says you've started looking at some high school math - that's clever. I've only ever done the sums we do at kindergarten…it's really boring,' she huffed, sitting up to look at him.

'Why's it boring?' he asked, frowning 'D'you find it hard - I could tutor you if you want,' he grinned

'It's not hard,' she replied 'It's _easy_. I always finish way before everyone else does,' he frowned even more.

'Too easy, huh?' he asked and she nodded, beginning to tug at the grass like he was. She didn't understand the look on his face…though she didn't often understand the looks on his face. Tony's expressions were more complicated than adults' ones were.

'Wait here a sec,' he said finally, and scrambled off the ground, and headed back towards the house.

She sat in silence for a little while, waiting, her mind going back to what Doctor Miles had just told her. She didn't want to have two more sessions a week - or even one more session - she hated the one as it was. It was a funny feeling when she had the tube attached - it was a little tingly most of the time, then it would begin to hurt, her head would start to ache and she'd feel sick. Throwing up was the worst part - she'd always hated throwing up. She'd always feel really tired afterwards as well, like she'd had all the energy sucked out of her, and the next day she'd feel all sore and achy like she always felt after falling out of the tree in the yard. Her mother had banned her from climbing that tree for pretty much that reason - so she didn't see why she wasn't banned from the nasty stuff that made her feel the same way, only worse.

Tony was back in a matter of minutes, and when he returned it was with a large pile of books

'Right,' he exhaled as he sat down again 'Okay,' he began to flip through the books, looking at things here and there until he stopped in one and his mouth pulled up at the corners 'Try and do these,'

He handed the book to her and pointed to a small collection of sums at the top of the page. She just screwed her nose up at them.

'You want me to do math?' she asked

'I want you to try it, yeah,'

'But math is boring, Tony,' she put the book on her lap and folded her small arms across her chest

'I bet you just think it's boring, I bet you won't find this boring,' he insisted, picking the book off her lap and forcing it into her hands 'Just try, for me, please,'

She sighed dramatically - something she'd learnt from Tony himself - and squinted at the sums. There was a little description of how to do them, which she read, and then turned to the first question.

'Well, um, it says that when you multip-iply all the zeros add together…and it says two lots of four is the same as four plus four which is five, six, seven, eight!...But the two doesn't have any zeros, so it's only those ones…so eight with three zeros on the end is…eight…eight…' she trailed off 'what's it called when it has three zeros?' she looked up at him questioningly.

'Thousand,'

'So…the answer's eight thousand?'

He grinned at her 'Yep. Congratulations, Pepper, you just did fourth grade math,'

'Fourth grade?' she asked in shock - fourth grade seemed so big.

'Yep. It's pretty easy, huh?' he grinned.

'Yeah…it is,' her answering grin was even wider than his.

'See you're a genius at math too,' he nudged her gently in the ribs 'I told you - peas in a pod,'

**So yeah I wanted to address the fact that Pepper is supposed to be really good at math too, so I hope you liked it, please let me know :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So because I felt bad, I'm giving you two chapters at once. Not a lot has really happened so far, so this chapter's sort of supposed to start moving things on a bit. It's not all fun and math...yeah okay that was bad even for me. Oh well. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Marvel please let me have them in miniature. Please?  
**

Over the next couple of weeks they fell into a strange sort of routine. Chemo was now on Tuesdays and Saturdays as well as the usual Thursday spot. She hated it, but at the same time the little girl was getting used to it – to the pain, the nausea, the fatigue. Besides which, no matter how bad it got, Tony was always there.

Most of the children in Willow Creek spent their free time in the games room, if they were up to it. She and Tony spent it under their tree by the stream – mainly doing math.

'_Tony?'_

'_Tony?'_

'_TONY!'_

'_Hmm?' he looked up from the textbook, face still in a deep frown of concentration 'What is it, Pepper?'_

'_Is this right?' she screwed her nose up as she handed him the workbook._

_The boy scanned the page and grinned 'Yep, nice one. You're getting good at this,' he handed it back to her, before pulling playfully on one of the strings of her hat. She still had quite a lot of hair, but it was beginning to slowly thin out, and since she spent so much time outside anyway her parents had bought her a big blue and purple bobble hat to wear. She had become so attached to it that she hardly took it off._

'_What're you doing?' she asked, peering over his shoulder at the strange mix of numbers and letters._

'_Quadratic equations,' he shrugged_

'_What're they?'_

'_Complicated,' he replied, tapping his pencil against the side of his leg._

'_Bad comply-cated?' she asked, snuggling a little closer so that she could see them properly._

_He shook his head 'No not bad complicated, just complicated,' he turned his grin on her 'Nothing I can't handle,'_

Despite everything, the little girl was oddly happy. Sure, this whole situation sucked – on the one hand she still hated her sessions, and she missed her long, crazy hair, but on the other, she got to spend pretty much all day every day with Tony. The two of them had managed to get quite the reputation – well, Tony already had a reputation – but together they were twice the trouble. Not that they ever did anything truly awful, they didn't. Most of the problem was that, with all the time they spent outside, they had a particular talent for tracking dirt all over the place. It had begun to drive Nurse Paula just a little insane.

'_Tony Stark! This is a _hospital _no__t a playground. How many times do I need to tell you to wipe your feet?!' he turned to her, face set in a wide grin as they hid in a closet around the corner._

'_Tony, I know it was you!'_

_They stayed silent._

'_Anthony Edward Stark, get out here. _Now_,__' the redhead tried hard to suppress a giggle at the look of disgust that overtook Tony's face at the use of his full name._

'_You. Shush,' he whispered at her _

'_Tony, I'm not kidding around. You're going to be late for your session as it is,'_

_Tony moved his hand to her mouth to try and silence the laugh bubbling from her lips. It clearly hadn't had the desired effect, as just a few seconds later Paula's un-amused face appeared in the doorway._

'_And what a surprise, you dragged Ginny into it as well. Come on y__ou two, upstairs – _now_,'_

_They traipsed out and let Paula escort them upstairs, where her mother was waiting._

'_Oh Ginny, there you are. Where've you been, darling? You're late,' her mother's eyes widened as she properly took in her appearance 'Ginny? Oh god, what have you been up to this time?'_

'_Gard-ning,' she grinned up at her._

'_What were you planting – yourself?' she asked, though there was no real anger in her voice, only slight bemusement._

'_I don't know what they were planting – but they certainly seemed to bring half the garden back in with them,' Paula folded her arms, eyebrows raised._

'_Oh guys, you didn't make a mess _again_, did you?' Angela looked from Tony to the redhead and back again._

_Neither answered._

_Her mother sighed 'Didn't we talk about this? You're allowed to go play outside as long as you promise not to make a mess,'_

_They both looked away guiltily, she at her shoes and he at the far wall._

'_Sorry,' she mumbled 'we were just looking after the pea plants,'_

_Angela frowned but then nodded 'Okay, but next time you are absolutely to wipe off before you come inside – understand?'_

_They nodded._

'_Now apologize to Nurse Paula,'_

'_Sorry,' they murmured in unison_

'_That's okay – it's not me you should be apologizing to anyway – it's the janitor who was to clear it up,'_

'_Hear that?' Angela asked 'Tomorrow you're going to go and find him and apologize – then we'll forget about it, deal?'_

_They nodded again._

'_Good – come on then you're holding them up,'_

No one was ever really _that_ cross with them, they actually thought they were both rather cute. So it was all going well, relatively speaking of course. She was as happy as she could be, given the circumstances, which was why she didn't like it when things started going wrong. She didn't like it all.

* * *

'Mommy, where's Tony?' she asked as she hopped up onto her bed and spied the empty one opposite her 'shouldn't he be here already?'

'I don't know where he is, sweetie. He's probably just late – it is Tony we're talking about here,' the little girl noticed that now her mother's tone was full mainly with just gentle, fond mocking – there was very little of the old coldness and disapproval she'd shown towards the boy.

'Can you ask Nurse Paula?' she asked quietly. She was getting used to this, but that was mainly because she always had Tony there with her. She didn't like it when she had to start before he got down. Funny, he hadn't been there on Tuesday either. In fact she hadn't even seen him for a few days – but her family had been visiting her so she'd just figured that her mother had warned him to keep out of sight. He was Howard Stark's mysteriously disappeared son, after all.

'Paula, do you know where Tony is?' Angela asked when the nurse came over.

She startled visibly 'Oh god, did no one tell you?'

'Did no one tell me what?' her mother asked and the little girl immediately noticed the change in her mother's face. It scared her.

'Tony's…' she trailed off, looking uncomfortable 'Tony's…not doing so well,'

'What does that mean?' the redhead tugged at her mother's sleeve 'Mommy?'

'I don't know, baby,' Angela put an arm around her 'Paula?'

'Well he…he'd been doing very well – as I'm sure you could see – but over the last week he seems to have been slipping backwards again,'

'So where is he?' her mother pressed.

'He's in an isolation unit,' she smiled apologetically – though whether she was apologetic for the news itself, the fact they hadn't already been told, or both was unclear.

'A what?' Angela frowned in concern

'An isolation unit – it's a bit like quarantined room,'

'_Why_?'

'We need to keep him away from all possibilities of germs and infection at the moment. He's particularly susceptible right now – and if he's going to have a transplant then we can't risk infection,' she explained

'Transplant? You mean a stem cell transplant? Surely that's not necessary. It can't be that bad, can it?' her mother's face was almost as worried as it had been they'd had their first talk with Doctor Miles.

'I'm sorry Mrs Potts, but it really is. We've already started looking for a bone marrow donor – he's almost certainly going to need it,'

'Momma?' the little girl asked, unable to mask the fear in her voice 'What's going on? Where's Tony? Is he getting more sick?'

'Don't worry, darling, Tony's going to be fine,' she turned to smile at her, but not before shooting Paula a worried look.

'You promise?'

'Yes, baby, I promise,'

**Hope it was okay. Just fyi, reviews = love. **


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry about the wait, last few months have been very very crazy for me, though things are (thankfully!) beginning to sort themselves out. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and that the New Year is proving good for everyone. Thanks to everyone reading and showing their support, I really do appreciate it.**

**Disclaimer: I wish.  
**

'Mommy?'

'Yes, Gin?' her mother responded wearily.

'Mommy, why won't they let me see Tony?' the little girl tugged at her mother's sleeve, fidgeting around in the bed.

'Tony's not very well right now, sweetheart, you know that,' Angela replied.

'I want to see him,'

'I know, Ginny, but you can't right now,'

The little girl's bottom lip jutted out and her blue eyes widened 'Please, Momma. If he's sick I want to see him, maybe I can make him betterer,'

Her mother chuckled quietly and she reached a hand out to stroke her daughter's hair 'It's a nice thought, baby, but I don't think there's much you can do,'

'There has to be! We're peas in a pod – he said so – so why can't I help?'

'It's not the kind of thing you can help with, Ginny, just like he can't help you with your illness. It's up to Doctor Miles and the nurses,'

She nodded and they went back to sitting in silence.

'Mommy?' the redhead asked again several minutes later, her hand still playing with the edge of Angela's shirtsleeve 'Is Tony going to die?'

'Of course not, baby,' her mother's response was lightning fast – like a reflex – and she didn't believe a word of it. Something inside her told the little girl that she shouldn't say anything though, that this time she should stay quiet.

It was a weird feeling, one she'd never really experienced before. Ever since she'd been able to talk the redhead had blurted out anything and everything that came to her mind without thinking about it, now though some new little niggle-y feeling was telling her it wasn't a good idea.

Instead, she nodded and smiled 'Good,'

She didn't miss her mother's sigh of relief.

* * *

This _sucked_. Forget about the fact that he was feeling awful – he should feel awful, it was natural – he was dying after all. What Tony didn't understand was why he had to be kept up here all alone. He wanted to see Pepper – and he wanted to see her _now_.

Tony looked around; the hallway was dark except for the dim light coming from the nurses' station. He'd been up here days and days now and he'd been watching carefully. The nurse on night duty this week – Rachel – always went to get a refill of coffee at eleven pm, sharp. Tony looked at his clock, the green digits blinked '22:59' back at him. This was his chance.

He dragged himself from his bed – everything ached and he felt so tired that he almost wondered if he wouldn't be better off just crawling back under the sheets – but then the clock changed to '23:00' and Nurse Rachel got up from her seat behind the desk.

He had to go, or he might never get a chance to say goodbye.

Tony crept out of his room and down the hallway as quietly and as quickly as possible – but he was so tired he found himself having to stop to lean against the wall every so often. Eventually he made it to the stairwell and began to descend at a pace even he found sickeningly slow. He missed being able to run, being able to climb. He missed being so lively and energetic that his father had to physically remove him from the workshop in case he broke some million-dollar piece of equipment from knocking it over. As he clambered down, hugging carefully to the rail, Tony wished that he could die from falling off a cliff or in one of those big car wrecks he'd seen on the news. Why did he have to die from this stupid illness? – From this thing that was making him boring and slow and so very un-_him_?

It wasn't fair.

Once he'd got past the obstacle of the stairs, Tony was relieved to see that Pepper's floor seemed virtually empty. He tiptoed along the corridor until he reached her door, opening it the tiniest crack to check Angela wasn't there, before sliding in and closing it behind him.

'Tony?' Pepper's voice was quiet and sleepy, but he couldn't help smiling at its sound. They hadn't even seen each other for nearly two weeks, and he'd missed the little redhead a lot.

'Hey, Pepper,' he grinned, shuffling across the room to take up residence in his usual spot at the end of her bed. It took longer than he liked.

'Tony what're you doing here? Mommy and the nurses said you got more sicker,' she asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes in the dull light.

'I did,' he shrugged.

'They said that you had to stay in the special place upstairs, that you couldn't leave and I couldn't go see you, they said that they were really sorry but those were rules!' she babbled and he immediately felt bad at how worried and confused she sounded.

'They are the rules…I just broke them is all,' he grinned – it was a little half-hearted, but still a grin.

'But they said if the rules got broken then you'd get even sickerer!'

'I'm sick anyway, Pepper,' he shrugged.

'But I don't want you get more sick!' she pushed the covers off and crawled down to sit cross-legged next to him 'I miss you,' she whispered, tugging on one of his sleeves 'I want you to come back – and you can't do that if you don't get better,'

He took a deep breath and put an arm around the little girl 'Can you keep a secret, Pep?' he asked quietly and she nodded 'I'm not going to get better,'

She frowned 'No. No you have to get better, Tony, please?' she looked up at him, blue eyes wide and he felt himself giving in. He'd been prepared to die for such a long time, but how could he say no to her? What if he died and she did something stupid like refusing medicine – she was stubborn like that. Stubborn and clever, a deadly combination. What if his death affected her badly and made her sicker?

Suddenly the reason why Angela had been so cold to him when they'd first met became abundantly clear. They were too attached. He was going to die, he _knew_ he was going to die – always had – so how had he not seen how selfish he was being. He jumped off the bed without another thought, wincing as his body protested.

'Tony?' Pepper's voice was full of confusion.

'I…I have to go, Pepper, I have to get back to my room,' he headed for the door as quickly as he could 'Sorry…go back to sleep,'

'When will I get to see you again?' she asked, voice sounding tiny and a little scared 'Are you gonna come back and see me?'

'Yes. No! I…I don't know…I have to go. Bye, Pep,' he fell over his words and exited the room, shutting the door firmly behind him and staggering back to the stairwell.

**Let me know what you thought, next chap will be up ASAP (and I really do mean that!)**


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